Denied full media access, Jannik Sinner unintentionally triggered extreme strict rules against social media access in tennis: Report

According to a recently-published report, Jannik Sinner very likely, without knowing much about it, triggered the implementation of some extremely strict rules about content around players being captured at tennis' biggest events. As things stand, the four tennis Majors along with several other prestigious tournaments in the sport have severely restricted players, as well as their partners, from filming content such as vlogs.

On Tuesday, November 4, the tennis-themed website Hard Court, which explores the sport beyond what plays out on the court, published an article titled, 'The tennis tours' content conundrum'. The article cited current ATP No. 4 Taylor Fritz's recent admission about the "absurd" rules for players to have their very own videographers at tournaments. Fritz made the admission in an interview with GQ Sports, which was published in October this year.

"A lot of the tournaments are saying, ‘You either have to have won a Slam or have 1 or 2 million followers to even be allowed a videographer on tour, which I think is absurd. How are you ever going to have a million followers if you don’t have someone capturing decent content to build your brand?," Fritz had told GQ Sports.

Subsequently, the Hard Court article claimed that according to sources, a certain exchange involving reigning ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner at a past edition of the Australian Open led to the formation of the strict rules and regulations surrounding content creation at tournaments. Based on the sources, Sinner wanted content around him to be filmed by a personal videographer at the Melbourne Major.

However, organizers didn't take too kindly to the Italian's demand. Here, reportedly, Sinner, in a bid for him to have his personal videographer at the tournament, showed videos of other tennis players that were filmed by their respective partners. Subsequently, the stricter rules that Fritz touched on in his GQ Sports interview were implemented, particularly spanning the four Grand Slams.

Jannik Sinner currently preparing for ATP Finals title defense; Italian practices with rival Carlos Alcaraz ahead of year-end event in Turin

Carlos Alcaraz (left) and Jannik Sinner (right) at the 2025 Six Kings Slam (Source: Getty)

The 2025 men's tennis season is set to come to its conclusion with the prestigious year-end ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The top two seeds, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, have already arrived in Turin, and they recently practiced together at the Inalpi Arena, the venue for the tournament.

Sinner won the year-end title for the first time in his career last year after defeating Taylor Fritz in the final. The Italian is in red-hot form heading into the event this time around as well, having lifted back-to-back trophies at the Vienna Open and the Paris Masters.

The World No. 1 finds himself in the Bjorn Borg group alongside Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev. Either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti will join this group depending on the latter's finish at the ongoing Hellenic Championship in Athens.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz, the No. 2, is in the Jimmy Connors group alongside Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz.

Edited by Sudipto Pati